International Academy of Financial Consumers
International Review of Financial Consumers
History
The IRFC is issued by the International Academy of Financial Consumers (IAFICO). IAFICO is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is the only global academic institution focusing its research on financial consumers. It was created in 2014 by several Asian scholars who shared similar opinions regarding the importance of financial consumers in the global and regional economy. They believed the emphasis on financial consumers in current financial systems is not sufficient. Hence, existing forums should pay more attention to the cross-country comparison of experiences, ideas, or best practices from the perspective of financial consumers.
The IRFC was created with a goal of sharing relevant information on financial development, whether successes or failures, as well as discussing financial issues in an impartial manner from the perspective of financial consumers. Furthermore, the Journal seeks to find short- and long-term solutions for economic and social development, and to collectively suggest solutions to common issues across countries.
The IRFC journal was first published in 2016 after more than a year’s work, mainly owing to the efforts of its editor, professor Man Cho, and eminent authors across borders. The journal is a platform for sharing research and opinions and serves as a knowledge base and a symbol of IAFICO.
Membership. Regular members of IAFICO include university professors and academics. For the sake of the organization’s neutrality, membership is open to consumer activists, regulators as individual members and to non-profit organizations as institutional members. IAFICO shuns relationships with for-profit corporations in the industry. Its president cannot serve as a security broker or an outside director for any bank or insurance company etc. IAFICO has traditionally been run by individual scholars and financed by its individual members and several non-profit organizations.